Security expert warns against Pakistan tour

An Australian professor in intelligence and counter-terrorism believes Australia should not tour Pakistan next month. An Australian security check is scheduled for the country after the elections on February 18 and if it occurs a decision on whether it is safe for the team to make the Test and one-day trip will be made.

The professor Clive Williams, who is from Macquarie University's Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, told the Sydney Morning Herald he would not go if he was in Australia's position. "It is a fairly volatile situation in Pakistan at the moment," Williams, a specialist in national security and Pakistan affairs, told the paper.

"It is not really clear where things will go. I don't think it would be advisable to go, it would be very dangerous. We have got troops in Afghanistan, and while Pakistan are cricket lovers, one way to create news and instability would be to target foreign visitors, especially given we have got an involvement in the war."

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) this week released four venues for the tour and is ready to provide head-of-state-style security for the team. However, Cricket Australia is not sure whether a pre-tour safety inspection can be made following the election and before the start of the tour.

"The security issues in Pakistan are not the fault of the PCB," Cricket Australia's Peter Young told the paper. "They are keen to go to every length they can to ensure this series goes ahead, and we have got nothing but absolute respect for them. But we cannot go there if our advice tells us it would not be safe to do so."